150 YEARS OF COORS

1880: Coors buys out Schueler and Adolph Coors Company is born.

1916: Colorado Prohibition grinds alcohol consumption to a halt. Displaying his trademark determination, Coors converts his brewery to make malted milk and nonalcoholic “nearbeer,” launching a venture to manufacture porcelain and ceramic products and deal in real estate and cement products. During this period, Adolph’s son, Adolph Coors Jr., takes over as president and leads the brewery out of Prohibition.

The Past

1872: 25-year-old Adolph Coors arrives in Golden. He stows away on a ship to the United States and spends three years at the Stenger Brewery in Illinois. After arriving in Golden, Coors buys into a bottling business.

1873: Coors partners with Jacob Schueler to open Schueler & Coors Brewing Co. Coors chooses Golden for the brewery site for its Rocky Mountain water from the Clear Creek Basin—perfect for brewing old-world lager.

1900s: The brewery goes through several expansions.

1946: Bill Coors establishes the brewery’s barley program, which gave the brewery access to good quality, high-yield barley.

1959: Coors introduces the first all-aluminum, two-piece beverage can, a development spearheaded by Bill Coors. The innovation kicks off a recycling drive across America, with Coors leading the way. “Waste,” said Bill Coors, “is just a resource out of place.”

1977: “Smokey and the Bandit” immortalizes the phenomenon of visitors to the American West loading their vehicles with cases of Coors.

1978: Coors Light is introduced.

1991: With interest in Coors beers at an all-time high following the release of “Smokey and the Bandit,” Coors establishes nationwide distribution and lands in all 50 states by 1991.

2005: Adolph Coors Co. merges with Molson Inc. to form Molson Coors Brewing Company, becoming one of the world’s largest brewing companies.

2020: The company changes its name to Molson Coors Beverage Company to reflect its ambitions beyond just the beer aisle.

The Present

Today, the brewery:

• Is the largest single-site brewery in the U.S. by volume

• Employs more than 800 full-time workers

• Produces 33 brands

• Brews nearly 10 million barrels of beer per year

The malthouse ranks as one of the world’s largest. Through a pair of joint ventures, Coors also operates one of North America’s largest aluminum can and end plants, as well as a bottling plant.

The Future

Currently undergoing a multi-hundred-million-dollar overhaul called G150, a nod to the brewery’s 150th anniversary, the project is on track for completion in 2024. The revamp includes updating the brewery, which will increase the ability to reuse carbon dioxide and reduce energy and water usage. It’s expected to save millions of dollars a year, making the facility—which produces about a quarter of the company’s beer in the U.S.—one of the world’s most efficient breweries.

“We’re a Colorado family through and through, and we take a lot of pride in the Golden brewery,” says Peter J. Coors, the fifth-generation family member leading the G150 project. That pride is reflected in Coors’ commitment to its longtime support of environmental, clean-water and wildlife fire prevention initiatives, as well as several charities and nonprofits. Today, you can find Coors beers across the world. •

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